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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26701126">The Upper Limit of Perfection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariahsue/pseuds/sariahsue'>sariahsue</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Marichat, Wholesome</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:42:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,326</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26701126</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariahsue/pseuds/sariahsue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette has been having a tough day. All she wants to do is shut out the world, but Cat Noir is determined to cheer her up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>198</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Upper Limit of Perfection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/LNC/gifts">LNC</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette kicked off her shoes as she climbed up her ladder steps. All she wanted to do was melt into her bed, maybe smother herself with a pillow a little bit, but that probably wouldn't help her feel much better, so she pushed her way through her skylight and into the fresh air. Why was being Marinette so overwhelming? Wasn't having the crushing responsibility of her Ladybug persona more enough for one person?</p>
<p>[She was grateful Tikki stayed below. Marinette wanted some alone time to collect her thoughts.]</p>
<p>Marinette sighed, overlooking the cars and late evening pedestrians. Sunlight stretched out across her balcony in patches. Maybe she should talk to Tikki about this. She might have advice. More likely, she'd have more of her "just cheer up! You can do it!" talk, and Marinette didn't feel like it tonight. She couldn't do all that was expected of her. And no pep talk could fix that glaring, painful truth.</p>
<p>"What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" asked a familiar voice.</p>
<p>Marinette gripped her railing. The metal was smooth and a little too cool, so not much like how she felt at the moment. She felt more like a hot mess.</p>
<p>"I live here. Are you saying my home isn't good enough?"</p>
<p>"No, just that you're too good in general," Cat Noir said, plopping down on something behind her. From the sound of the creaking, it was the deck chair.</p>
<p>"If you've come to be entertained," Marinette said, fingers drumming against the railing, "I'm sorry to disappoint." Banter didn't feel like it would be much fun right now. All she wanted to do was go back inside, now that her balcony was no longer a solitary sanctuary.</p>
<p>"Want me to provide the entertainment instead?" He waited for a response. The seconds stretched out, until he finally added, "Come on, I'd miss hanging out with my favorite civilian. Who else thinks I'm funny, has such a nice smile, and likes cookies the way you do?" The chair squeaked as he got up and walked over, then he draped a warm arm over her shoulder.</p>
<p>"You only like me because I look like Ladybug," Marinette mumbled. Maybe she'd meant for him to hear it. Maybe she knew it was still loud enough for her partner's sensitive ears to pick up. Maybe, deep down, she wanted to hear him tell her she was wrong.</p>
<p>"Vague similarities, Princess." Cat Noir waved in front of them with his free hand to dismiss Marinette's concerns. "They are outshined by your creativity, leadership, and all-around cuteness."</p>
<p>Marinette snorted. She should have known better than to fish for compliments from a cat. "Are you sure we're talking about me? It still sounds like you're describing Ladybug."</p>
<p>"Oh wait, we were talking about you? Since when?"</p>
<p>"Ha." Marinette ducked out from under his arm and started to back away toward her skylight. Being alone was sounding better and better the more she talked. She couldn't live up to Cat Noir's good opinion of either Marinette or Ladybug, and she didn't need the extra pressure right now.</p>
<p>The skylight was still propped open, like a release valve. His back was still to her. He hadn't bothered to watch her leave, so she had the chance to slip away without having to explain herself.</p>
<p>"It's funny," he said. "A lot of the things I like about Ladybug are also traits I like about you."</p>
<p>Against her better judgement, Marinette stopped moving. Curiosity won out. "Like what?"</p>
<p>"She's kind and brave."</p>
<p>Marinette rolled her eyes at him behind his back. Clearly, he didn't remember their first day on the job, or the countless times since then that she'd second-guessed herself.</p>
<p>"She's super creative, too. I bet she's some kind of inventor in her civilian life."</p>
<p>"Right. A mad scientist with a lab coat, and the tip of one pigtail is on fire."</p>
<p>"No, no," Cat Noir said, finally turning around. He leaned against the railing easily. "She's far too organized to let a fire like that keep burning. It's just smoking at this point."</p>
<p>Organized? Based on the state of her room, Marinette wasn't sure about that. So far he'd been wrong on all counts. After all the time they'd spent together, he really didn't know her that well, did he? It was like another weight being added to her shoulders, a thick blanket, cold and stifling. He didn't understand her at all.</p>
<p>"Or maybe she's some kind of artist," he continued. "Ladybug looks at normal things in extraordinary ways, you know? So I bet she paints or something."</p>
<p>Well, maybe he knew her a little bit. Fashion design was definitely artistic. Or maybe, a niggling doubt said, maybe he was just guessing and got lucky.</p>
<p>"She looks at normal people like they're extraordinary too. I love that about her."</p>
<p>That one gave Marinette pause. "What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"Haven't you noticed? She's always seeing the best in people, building them up. She inspires people to take what they have and just… I don't know… do something great with it." He ran his fingers through his hair, like he was raking through his mind for just the right words to describe her, and this time the tightness in Marinette's chest had nothing to do with sadness.</p>
<p>But he wasn't quite done.</p>
<p>"She's so forgiving of the people who've been akumatized. She always sees the best in everyone and everything, even in the worst situations. It's amazing to be able to be around her so often. You have no idea."</p>
<p>"I think you might be a little biased," she said. "You only get to see a small piece of her. No one can be that perfect all the time."</p>
<p>"Oh, I know she's not perfect," Cat Noir said. "She can't seem to appreciate a good pun."</p>
<p>"Thank you for proving my point." Marinette took a step backward. "That's not a real flaw." What must he think of her at the moment? Shoulders hunched, daring him to tear down one of Paris's heroes, telling him he'd gotten his partner completely wrong.</p>
<p>"She's got high standards," he said quietly. "So sometimes she's too hard on people and quick to judge. Mostly that means she's too hard on herself. I've seen her unsure of herself and afraid. I know I said she can always see the best in every situation, but it's not 100% of the time. No one can do that."</p>
<p>His final words were measured, like he was weighing whether or not he should keep going with every syllable. "And she's not always super great at her job. She's messed up plenty of times."</p>
<p>That sounded more like it. A mess. A disaster. Even Cat Noir, who thought the world of her, could see that. Marinette found herself nodding along with his words.</p>
<p>"She can't do it alone, but she wasn't ever supposed to. That's why two people were chosen." Cat Noir held up his hand and wiggled his fingers so his ring caught the light from the setting sun. "It's not a job for one, and I love being able to help. I'd be useless if she were perfect, so I'm grateful that she's not."</p>
<p>They stared at each other for a few seconds before Marinette silently walked back over to him. Without missing a beat, Cat Noir threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in again, and they watched the cars rolling by below them.</p>
<p>"It sounds like Ladybug's got a good partner," Marinette finally said.</p>
<p>"It's easy to be a good partner for her. She makes it a lot of fun. I meant what I said, though."</p>
<p>"About what?"</p>
<p>"You two are alike in a lot of ways. Don't get overwhelmed by taking burdens meant for two or three. Your friends want to help you. I want to help you. So just ask, okay?"</p>
<p>Marinette snuggled in closer to his side.</p>
<p>"Okay."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's note: I wrote this for LNC2 on Tumblr. She had posted, "all i want is just chat noir waxing poetic about ladybug in front of marinette who is like… O.O" and I was inspired. It wasn't the most poetic thing in the world, but I still liked how it turned out!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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